Happily Married?
by PikaSass
Summary: Misty's accusing Ash of the ultimate married sin, and their daughter is caught in the middle of it. How will Ash make it up to her and save a marriage that had once been so blissful? *gasp* Hurry up Ash, think quick! ^_^


DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. Dang!

A/N: Alrighty guys, just a short one, seeing into the future of Ash and Misty! I know it's probably not original, but I've had a writing crave, so sorry. Just read and hopefully enjoy, and sorry about the delays in my fics, hopefully this will get the ball rolling again! 

Misty Ketchum once again glanced worriedly at the kitchen clock, as if she really was confirming the unbelievable hour. Could it really be 9:45pm? Another night was over, another night replaying the same old excuses to her six-year old daughter when she asked where her father was. Another night without her husband of 7 years.

She sighed in defeat and slowly walked over to the kitchen lights, preparing to once again walk up the stairs by herself. Her duties were cut short when she heard the front door open and whirled her head round to meet her husband's exhausted eyes.

"Misty, I'm so sorry, the car -" Ash started but was cut off when Misty sharply put her hand up in a stop gesture.

"Save it Ash. I've heard it all before. The car stalled, traffic was terrible, work's a nightmare..." She trailed off and glared pointedly at him. "Your daughter wanted to know where you were tonight. Again. And I couldn't tell her why her daddy wasn't there to tuck her in. Be honest with me. Where were you?"  


"Please Misty, I wish you wouldn't have all these suspicions, I've just been having a bad run at getting home on time" Ash explained.

"A bad run? You call the last six months a bad run?!" Misty asked in disbelief.

"Look, I know it hasn't been the best lately, but things will get better. I promise" Ash vowed, walking towards her and gently grasping her hand. But she was quick to pull away. 

"You've been promising that for six months" Misty sadly pointed out. "I can't wait forever. Neither can Isabelle" she said, referring to their daughter.

"Come on, I'm the one who keeps food on the table, I work so we can survive and all you can do is accuse or doubt me!" Ash said loudly. 

"We won't survive Ash! We can't survive!" Misty yelled. "It's the same every day - you stumble home late, replay some worn excuse and we end up screaming at each other! I don't know how you expect us to survive like that every night!"

"We've survived so far. We've survived because love survives above all" Ash stated.

"Love" Misty repeated flatly. "This is love? This is not how love or marriage works. It's supposed to be how it was seven years ago."

"Godammit, Misty! I love you as much as seven years ago, as much as when we first met! What must I do to prove that to you?" Ash asked in exasperation.

"Coming home on time would be a good start" Misty snarled through clenched teeth.

"This isn't school, Mist! It's my home and I can decide what time I want to come home" Ash said.

"So you _were _out somewhere!" Misty shouted.

"What's a beer on a Friday night?" Ash shrugged.

"I knew it! Why couldn't you just tell me?" Misty asked hopelessly. 

"Because it's my first beer in a long time. You have absolutely no idea how hard I work, and I know that whatever I tell you you'll end up twisting to be completely false. But hear me now, Misty. I work hard so that you and me and Isabelle can all have a good life together" Ash explained.

"And you call this a good life? Is this what you envisioned seven years ago when you said 'I do'?" Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not!" Ash exclaimed.

"Did you ever stop to think that I might be worried about you when you didn't show up after eight? Worried about where you are, if you're alright, if you're with someone else -"

"Someone else?! Misty, that's crazy! I couldn't be with someone else, you're the only someone in my life. That's the last thing you should be worried about!" Ash said angrily. He had never taken accusations well, true or false.

"You know something Ash? You're right. I should never have to be worried about that ever again" Misty said icily.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked cautiously.

"I won't need to worry about someone who isn't my problem anymore. This time tomorrow you can expect me and Isabelle to be gone" Misty said calmly. With that she turned back to the direction of the stairs, not expecting an immediate answer from her husband and not getting one. He could only stand in shock, a shock that was now glue to his feet. By the time he finally did start moving, Misty was halfway up the stairs. Ash ran to the landing of the staircase in an attempt to smooth things over.

"M-Misty, you...you can't be serious" he stated. Misty froze midway through her ascent and slowly turned to face him.

"Why not Ash? I can't live like this anymore" she sighed. "I can't live with a husband who I'm..." She paused and tried to gulp away her tears before she spoke her next reluctant words. "I'm falling out of love with."

"No" Ash said firmly. "Misty, no! I love you, I always have, I always will!"

"I find it hard to be in love with someone who I hardly even see!" Misty shouted. 

"You're overreacting. You damn well know it!" Ash yelled.

"You have _no _idea how lonely I get! Not a clue! You don't have to stay here and put on a cheerful act to deceive Isabelle! You just create the situation for me! I hate it! I really hate it, I can't do it anymore!" Misty exclaimed. Ash went quiet and blankly stared at his wife of seven years.

"Misty, don't. Please don't. If not for my sake, then for Isabelle's. She wouldn't survive it if she had to leave" Ash said in a slightly calmer tone.

"She barely survives each night wondering where the hell you are! She's not dumb, Ash, she sees through the lies. I would too if I was fed them every night for six months!" Misty yelled.

"Dammit, why won't you be reasonable?!" Ash yelled back.

"Why won't you be faithful?!"

"I told you, I wasn't with -" Ash cut himself off as the small figure of his daughter came to light at the top of the stairs.

"Mommy? Daddy? Why are you fighting?" Isabelle asked timidly. 

"We're not fighting, we're talking" Misty weakly replied, feeling drained from the short but intense argument. She couldn't understand why they drained her so. She did it every night, so surely she'd be used to it by now.

"You woke me up" Isabelle said sleepily.

"Sorry sweetie. Come one, I'll tuck you back into bed" Ash offered, walking past a glaring Misty and grasping his daughter's hand. It took Isabelle a full five minutes to close her eyes, the reassuring stroking of her father's hand on her forehead lulling her to sleep. Ash stared at her for a long time, hating to put her in the middle of the bickering that had gone on these last six months. With a heavy sigh, he headed to the master bedroom, to be greeted by two pillows and a blanket discarded on the floor. He turned his gaze to Misty, who was in bed, and raised an eyebrow.

"What's with this?" he asked.

"You've earned yourself the honour of sleeping on the couch tonight" Misty coldly informed him. "If I've only got one night left in this house I should have the right to the bed" she added.

"Misty, you sound like a 3-year old" Ash said flatly.

"Well you should've thought of that before you married me" Misty said, aloofness almost radiating from her very pores. "Now get downstairs, I'm tired."

"No!" Ash protested. "I am not sleeping down there!"

"I'm not sleeping in the same bed as someone I've been so blind to trust!" Misty declared.

"What, the same someone you've been married to for seven years, the same someone who fathered your child, the same someone who bought that bed? Come to think of it, I paid for that bed, it's mine and I should sleep in it" Ash pointed out.

Misty, who was now tired both physically and mentally, threw her hands up in exasperation and stormed out of the bed. "Fine! Take it! Why would I wanna sleep in the same bed you've slept in anyway?" With a mad desire to firmly slap her husband out of pure rage, to make him go through a fraction of the pain she went through every day, she grabbed the pillows and blanket and made her way downstairs. Every step she took was so forced she was sure she would break - or more likely shatter - her ankle in the process.

Her anger quickly evaporated and transformed into an overwhelming feeling of depression as she flopped onto the couch. The same questions that had fueled her anger now contributed to the tears building up in her eyes. Different questions based on the same thing. Where had it gone wrong? How had it gone wrong? But one question pained her more than all the suspicions and arguements of the last six months ever had.

__

Why had it gone wrong?

*******

The next morning was heart wrenching as Misty packed two large suitcases for both herself and Isabelle. As their daughter obliviously played with her dolls house two doors down, Ash and Misty were engaging in one of their first civil conversations in a long time.

"Misty, this is just a trial separation thing, right? I mean, you're not gonna be faxing me divorce papers or anything...are you?" Ash asked nervously. Misty stopped folding an item of clothing and stared at her hands.

"I don't know, Ash" she whispered. "I honestly don't know."

"But you've gotta come back!" Ash exclaimed desperately. "I can't live without you! Misty, look at me." When Misty didn't respond, Ash placed two of his fingers under her chin and tilted her head so her gaze was meeting his. But he had to keep in a gasp when he witnessed two rivers of tears cascading down her cheeks. "Oh Misty" he sighed, gently wiping away the trails of pain. "Don't put yourself through this. Just stay. I swear things will get better."

Misty shook her head and resumed her nearly completed packing. "No. They haven't and they won't." She shut the suitcase and grabbed the two of them. "Isabelle! Are you ready?" she yelled out. Her daughter immediately skipped out of her room, an excited grin on her face.

"Yup! I can't wait to see Aunt Daisy and Uncle Scott and Holly!" she squealed. Misty's sister was on the other end of the spectrum when it came to their marriages. Daisy had been blissfully happy with Scott, her husband of nine years, and their 7-year old daughter, Holly, who loved her cousin as much as she would her own sister.

Misty smiled. "We've got a train to catch first." This only boosted Isabelle's energy levels and she raced ahead of her parents in an attempt to make what she thought was her holiday come quicker. A taxi pulled up as the three of them reached the front door, and Isabelle was gearing up to jump in when her father grasped her hand.

"Daddy, I gotta get in the taxi!" she insisted. Ash bit his lip and knelt down to meet her at eye level.

"I love you, sweetie" he said, his voice cracking from the emotion rising to his throat. His daughter, young though she was, could not find the sense in her father telling her he loved her before she went on a holiday and stared at him in confusion. No more words transpired between them before Ash fiercely hugged her, trying to absorb every fibre of her in case this was the last time he would see her for a long time.

"Why are you staying here, Daddy?" Isabelle suddenly asked. She had been told that Ash was staying behind earlier, but her excitement had overridden her curiosity as to why.

"Um...I'm very busy, I've got lots of work" Ash lied, almost feeling physical pain at having to fabricate the truth to her innocent face. In a way, it gave him a better understanding of why Misty was leaving - to do that every night for six months would have killed him.

With a small kiss on her cheek, Ash let Isabelle go and watched with a sad smile as she ran into the taxi and hurriedly began talking to the driver. Misty slowly turned to Ash and couldn't stop her silent tears at what she had to do next.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you soon?" Ash said hopefully. But his hopes were soon doused with shock when he witnessed Misty slowly pulling off both her engagement and wedding rings. She then held Ash's palm out, placed the rings in his hand, and firmly closed his fingers round the rings that had come with what were now broken vows.

"I'm sorry, Ash" she said, choking back her sobs. "I just don't know." She couldn't say anything else to his pained face and quickly walked towards the taxi, slamming the door and burying her face in her hands in an attempt to stop even more tears. There was no turning back now. The taxi turned into the unusually quiet streets of Pallet Town, heading, quite possibly, in the direction of Misty and Isabelle's new life.

*******

"Daisy, I've come to the point in my life where I am comparing myself to the likes of a slice of bread" Misty unhappily announced to her sister the next day. They were sitting at the kitchen table, occasionally glancing out the window to keep an eye on their daughters.

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I'm the bit in the middle and the crusts on the outside are men and boys. As a kid I picked them off, as a teenager I kinda accepted them, and now I have no idea what to do with them" Misty moaned. Daisy laughed at the description.

"So you don't know whether to devour them or chuck them in the insinkerator?" she asked. Misty nodded in despair. "Misty, for one thing you are dealing with only one guy here. For another, that guy is your husband. The same man you've loved for twenty years now." Misty went quiet. "It's a long time to be in love with someone, isn't it?" Daisy added gently.

"Yeah, but...things have changed." Misty sighed as she caught a glimpse of Isabelle happily chasing her cousin with the garden hose. "He's changed. It's amazing how much he's changed these last six months." Daisy sympathetically grasped her younger sister's hand.

"Six months out of seven years of marriage is considered a small blemish. Don't you think you're kinda taking a drastic measure?"

"Maybe it'll make him see in a different light from now on" Misty muttered. "He'll have to as a divorced father."

"Divorced?!" Daisy gasped. "Misty, you can't be serious!" Her reaction was similar to Ash's and only frustrated Misty further.

"I dunno! How am I supposed to take things seriously when I've just left the only guy I've ever loved?" she asked rhetorically. Daisy didn't have an answer, and was somewhat grateful when Holly walked in, soaking wet, her blonde curls now resembling a damp mop. A scowl also dominated her face.

"Holly, what on earth happened to you?" Scott asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Isabelle squirted me with water" Holly pouted.

"Uh oh, sounds like more than a war of words" Daisy grinned. Despite the cousins' almost sisterly bond, they never failed to remind their parents that even sisters fight.

"I got her back though" Holly grinned smugly. All the adults glanced outside, expecting to see a soaking wet Isabelle, but they all frowned when they found her bone dry, sitting by the garden with a blank expression on her face. 

"Is she okay?" Daisy asked.

"I dunno" Holly replied vaguely. Suddenly, Daisy caught on. Isabelle and Holly had exchanged nasty words before, and Holly would have had a key advantage this time, knowing the situation before Isabelle. Daisy grabbed her daughter's shoulders and eyed her severely.

"Holly, what did you say to her?" Daisy's tone was stern but only stern enough to make Holly minimally quiver.

"Not much. Nothing." Daisy narrowed her eyes, burning them into Holly, who darted her eyes around the room uncomfortably.

"What did you say to her?" Daisy slowly repeated. 

"I just said...um..." Holly averted her mother's gaze and mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" Daisy asked.

"She called me stupid when I yelled at her for squirting me, so I said...I said at least my mommy and daddy aren't splitting up and living in different houses" Holly said quietly, almost as if she now regretted it.

"What!" Daisy exclaimed. "I told you Aunt Misty and Uncle Ash might not be splitting up! I also told you NOT to talk to anyone about it except me and Daddy, ESPECIALLY not Isabelle!" she continued loudly. Holly's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip quivered.

"I'm sorry Mommy" she apologised quietly. 

"You shouldn't be apologising to me" Daisy said, discreetly gesturing to a shocked and rapidly paling Misty. 

"I'm sorry Aunt Misty" Holly mumbled. Misty blankly nodded and stood up.

"I better go talk to her" she announced quietly.

"Oh my God, Mist I'm so sorry" Daisy sighed.

"Yes, we'll see to it that this one gets punished" Scott added, severely eyeing Holly.

"It doesn't matter, it's done with. I've just gotta go console her" Misty explained. Daisy and Scott nodded and silently watched her walk outside. She reached the edge of the garden, where Isabelle still sat silently.

"Hey sweetie" Misty quietly greeted her.

"Go away" Isabelle icily demanded. Misty sighed and sat down beside her.

"I'm sorry Izzy, we should've told you what was going on" she started.

"So you and Daddy _are _splitting u? And we're going to live far away from Daddy?" Isabelle asked panickly.

"I don't know yet" Misty replied honestly. "We're just staying here for a couple of weeks until I can get something sorted out."

Isabelle went quiet and her voice was faint when she next spoke. "This is all my fault, isn't it?"

"No!" Misty exclaimed, hugging her daughter tight. "None of this is your fault."

"But sometimes I could hear you and Daddy fighting about me" Isabelle said, clinging to her mother as she slowly rocked her back and forth.

"You listen to me, Isabelle. Whatever happens from now on is not your fault. Daddy and I love you very very much" Misty said.

"Do you love Daddy?" Isabelle asked, catching Misty off guard. She hadn't expected her six year old daughter to be asking that question.

"I...I don't know" she replied, feeling the phrase was becoming her latest quote. 

"So when will I see him again?" Isabelle asked worriedly.

"Soon. Look, all I can tell you is that nothing is your fault and we might not be leaving Daddy forever" Misty said. "For now just don't worry about it. We're on holiday, which means we're gonna have fun." Isabelle slowly nodded, a small smile reaching her lips.

"I've still gotta get Holly back" she said mischievously.

"Oh no, I think you guys should give that a rest" Misty advised. "A holiday won't be much fun if you two are bickering at each other. Now go inside and apologise to your poor cousin." Isabelle's face portrayed a shocked expression and she was about to protest when her mother gave her a stern warning look that spoke more volumes than words could. 

"Okay okay, I'm going" Isabelle mumbled, trudging back to the house. Misty stood up and followed her, hoping she hadn't just filled her daughter with false hope.

*******

"Misty! Phone!" Scott yelled a week later, not quite sure where his sister-in-law had gotten to. She appeared a moment later, a puzzled frown on her face.

"Who is it?" she asked. Scott vaguely shrugged and Misty instantly knew. "Did you tell him I was here?"

"Well he wouldn't still be waiting if I did" Scott pointed out. Misty took in a deep breath and slowly put the phone up to her ear.

"What is it, Ash?" she asked flatly.

"Mist, you and Isabelle have gotta come home right now!" Ash exclaimed, and Misty couldn't stop the small smile that came to her face. The absence of his voice had sort of taken a toll on her, and it was little things like this that were causing Scott and Daisy to start placing bets on how long it would be before those two were back together.

"Ash, I haven't really thought things through yet" Misty started.

"Come on, just come home, I promise you -"

"Promise me what?" Misty asked. "I'm not gluing our marriage back together with promises."

"Pleeeeease Misty, you won't regret it" Ash whined.

"What's the big deal?"

"I've got a surprise for you. A surprise that's been six months in the making" Ash announced.

"This separation has been six months in the making" Misty sighed wearily.

"Please just grab the next train to Pallet. Not only do I wanna show you this, I've..." Ash hesitated and continued quietly, not sure if Misty would welcome his next words. "I've missed you, Mist."

"I've missed you too" Misty found herself admitting. "Alright, we'll go home, but don't get your hopes up. We'll leave the suitcases cos I have a nagging feeling we'll be back here tonight."

"You just said you missed me" Ash said.

"And I do. But that doesn't balm the pain you've put me through."

"It'll all be made up for once you get here" Ash said assuredly.

"Right" Misty said doubtfully. "See you in a few." She hung up the phone and shook her head, thinking she was about to embark on the craziest thing she'd ever done. "Isabelle! Come on, we're going home!" she yelled, putting on a jacket as she did. Three pairs of feet starting thumping down the stairs and it wasn't long before Daisy, Holly and Isabelle were standing in front of her.

"You're going home?" Daisy asked as Misty started jacketing her increasingly excited daughter.

"Ash called, but I think we'll be back here tonight. I'll give you a call" Misty promised. She hurriedly kissed her niece and sister goodbye and rushed out the door with Isabelle in tow.

"Are we really going home?" Isabelle asked.

"Yup. It might not be for long though." Misty observed her daughter's crestfallen face and sighed. "Don't get so down, you're gonna see Dad."

"Yay!" Isabelle squealed. The two of them hurried down the bustling main road, intrigue quickening Misty's pace. The next train to Pallet was five minutes from departing when they arrived at the station, and through the hour long ride Isabelle talked endlessly as only a child can, while Misty's mind wandered. What could Ash possibly have in store for them?

The train pulled up and Misty was about to stand up when Isabelle suddenly leapt out of her seat and jumped off the train, making herself the first passenger off.

"Isabelle, wait!" Misty yelled desperately as she watched her run into the sea of people. She followed her as quickly as she could, fear dominating her heart as the horrors of losing Isabelle in a busy train station took her over. Misty scanned the crowd in search of her daughter, and felt nothing but relief when she saw her engulfed in her father's embrace.

"I missed you so much, Daddy" Misty heard Isabelle saying as she approached the two of them. Ash smiled and kissed the top of her head before he noticed Misty standing in front of him. The mere vision of her gave his heart that little skip he had felt ever since they had first met, a skip out of amazement at how a creature as beautiful as her could exist, and now this time, also out of joy.

"How did you know we were on that train?" Misty asked.

"I took a lucky guess and prayed you hadn't missed it" Ash grinned. Misty weakly smiled back and they slowly walked towards the car park, Isabelle now in Ash's arms. The silence and slight tension was undeniable, but both adults tried to play it off as their silent joy of seeing each other ran through them.

"So what's the big surprise?" Misty asked as Ash finished strapping Isabelle into the back.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise" he pointed out, climbing into the driver's seat. Misty sighed as she got in.

"This better be worth it, Ash. I'm still not completely clear-headed" she warned, although she knew her mind wasn't exactly in the shambles it was in a week ago either.

"You'll love it" Ash promised. He cautiously placed his hand on hers and relished the feeling of it, the touch he had missed so badly. "This will help you understand why I've been coming home so late."

"Oh goody, we're going to meet your mistress" Misty said flatly.

"Well...I guess she is the second love of my life next to you" Ash confessed, noticing that Misty hadn't moved her hand from underneath his. She looked shocked at a response that didn't deny it, but didn't say anything.

They drove for ten minutes, in which Isabelle easily and happily filled in the silence by recalling the past week to her father, who patiently listened with a small smile/

Ash pulled the car up beside a high wooden fence and a driveway perimetered by trees. Misty raised an eyebrow as the engine stopped.

"What's going on?" she inquired. Ash grinned, got out of the car, walked over to her side and opened her door, helping her out. Isabelle also clambered out, eager to see what was going on. 

"Okay, I need you to close your eyes" Ash told her.

"No way, you know I hate walking in the dark" Misty said firmly.

"C'mon Mist, you won't regret it" Ash said. Misty gave in to her husband's trusting tones and closed her eyes as Ash grasped both hers and Isabelle's hands. It was a feeling Misty hated both emotionally and physically, stumbling in the dark, and to think she was trusting someone she had almost forgotten how to trust only contributed to her uneasiness. It was about a minute later that Misty heard Isabelle gasp and they all stopped walking.

"Is that ours, Daddy?!" Isabelle asked in astonishment.

"Yup, it sure is. Okay Mist..." Ash took in a deep breath, hoping the oxygen would somehow extinguish his increasing nerves. "Open your eyes." Now Misty was hesitant, even after all the anticipation, and took a moment before she slowly opened her eyes, which instantly got wider at what she saw in front of her.

"Woah, woah. Ash, you...you bought this?" she asked, stupefied. She was talking about the two-stories Victorian style house that was unmistakably in front of them. The house was spellbinding, a much bigger leap from their three bedroomed modesty on the other side of town. And then the grounds...Misty could only describe them as a miniature park, with a small fountain and pond, vivacious flowers and a canopy of majestic trees - all in the front yard alone.

"Well, no, I didn't buy _this_" Ash replied, pulling something out of his pocket. He handed Misty a photograph, and she studied it carefully. "I bought _that_."

"But that's nearly falling apart!" Misty exclaimed, unable to miss the cracked pain, the smashed windows, the door hanging off its hinges and weeds overgrowing what might have been a garden.

"Oh yes, it _was_" Ash said mischievously. "But me and a few builders saw to that."

"You...restored it?" Misty whispered in disbelief.

"I helped in my spare time" Ash shrugged. "Lunchtimes, weekends, after work..."

"So that's why you were always -"

"Late" Ash finished. "Yeah. I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible cos I knew you would get suspicious, but it took longer than I originally thought it would."

"This is so cool!" Isabelle yelled. "Where's my room?" Without waiting for a reply, she raced up to the unlocked front door, flung it open and ran inside, much to her parents' amusement. 

"Well she likes it" Ash commented lightly. "I guess the real question is...do you?"

Misty continued to stare at it in awe. "I love it" she whispered. "But how did you ever afford it? And don't you think it's a tad big for just the three of us?" Ash's heart almost lifted to the heavens at her words. The _three _of us.

"It was cheap because of the state it was in, builders didn't ask for much either. As for its size, well..." Ash trailed off and laughed slightly. "When were you planning on telling me, Mist?"

"Telling you what exactly?" Misty asked.

"A trip upstairs might jog your memory" Ash said non-chalantly. Misty followed him inside, catching brief glimpses of the interior that was as beautiful, if not more so, than the exterior. The stairs lead to a series of rooms, one Ash had already decorated for Isabelle, who was now squealing in delight.

"Purple walls!" she exclaimed, marveling over her favourite colour like it was an old friend. Ash and Misty laughed to themselves before Ash lead his wife over to a closed door and put his hand on the doorknob. He then turned to her with an odd expression on his face.

"At first I sorta wished you had told me. But I guess if you had I wouldn't have been able to do this before you beat me to it" he shrugged.

"What _are _you talking about?" Misty asked in disbelief. Ash grinned and slowly opened the door, though his eyes stayed glued to Misty. She gradually took in each part of the display with a blank face, unsure of what to say or do. She silently took a few steps in. It was an airy sunny room, but it was not the weather conditions that made the room what it was to Misty. The walls were painted a sky blue, cream carpet adorned what had once been unattractive floorboards, and the things that really shocked her were the crib, diaper shelves and toys all carefully placed throughout the room.

"Doctor Johnson called the day after you left" Ash started. "Wanted to confirm that yes, you were out of the danger zone for your pregnancy, thankyou for choosing him to visit, and he also extended his, ahem, 'many congratulations' to us." Misty faced his amused expression with an apprehensive one.

"Ash, I..."

"Were you ever gonna tell me?" Ash asked.

"Of course I was. I just wanted to make sure I was out of the danger zone, especially after that miscarriage last year" Misty explained, bringing to surface the event that had caused her whole family so much grief. "I was going to tell you -"

"But instead you packed up and left" Ash interrupted. Misty went quiet after hearing this and Ash continued. "So you're four months along. Due next April." Misty nodded, and Ash paused. "Do you like the -" He was cut off when he Misty suddenly placed her lips on his, satisfying the need they had both desired for the last week. The kiss was long and passionate as they compensated for lost time, and Misty finally pulled away, her eyes never leaving his.

"I love the house. I love the room. And I love you" she said softly.

"It took you a once broken down house to realise that?" Ash asked.

"No" Misty replied, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. "I knew it all along. We'll just call these last six months a slight blemish" she grinned, repeating Daisy's words.

"Good, because I love you too much to ever let last week repeat itself" Ash said, firmly holding her by her waist as if confirming his words.

Misty knew this wasn't a shield from something she shouldn't know about, and how she could ever have doubted the only person she'd ever loved was beyond her. For this was love, as pure and as whole as the day they had said 'I do.' And as they shared another kiss, Ash slipped her wedding and engagement rings back on her finger, doubling the solidness of everything those rings meant as he did.

A/N: I'm sorry! I didn't think it would go on for so long! I actually cut a lot out, so can you imagine my first copy of this?! LOL, anyways, every single review I get I love, so make my day, but please be honest. Sugar coating does not go down well with me! Thanks for being brave enough to even read my stories, hahaha, luv yaz for it!


End file.
